The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is an independent research library rich in manuscripts and artifacts of American history. The MHS is accessible to anyone with an interest in the country's history and remains committed to the idea that public knowledge of the nation’s past is vital to its future.

The MHS offers free exhibitions, public lectures, tours, brown bag lunches, seminars and workshops for teachers. Every year the MHS welcomes more than 1,000 researchers to the library, including 40 fellows, more than 600 teachers to workshops and in excess of 2,000 people to its public and scholarly programs.

The MHS holds 13 million documents, including 120,000 photographs, 10,000 broadsides and thousands of paintings, maps and artifacts. This includes a set of personal papers from three presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson as well as millions of pages of manuscripts and other materials that promote the study of the history of Massachusetts and the nation. The library is free to the public.